Asynchrony among local communities stabilises ecosystem function of metacommunities

Kevin R. Wilcox; Andrew T. Tredennick; Sally E. Koerner; Emily Grman; Lauren M. Hallett; Meghan L. Avolio; Kimberly J. La Pierre; Gregory R. Houseman; Forest Isbell; David Samuel Johnson; Juha M. Alatalo; Andrew H. Baldwin; Edward W. Bork; Elizabeth H. Boughton; William D. Bowman; Andrea J. Britton; James F. Cahill; Scott L. Collins; Guozhen Du; Anu Eskelinen; Laura Gough; Anke Jentsch; Christel Kern; Kari Klanderud; Alan K. Knapp; Juergen Kreyling; Yiqi Luo; Jennie R. McLaren; Patrick Megonigal; Vladimir Onipchenko; Janet Prevéy; Jodi N. Price; Clare H. Robinson; Osvaldo E. Sala; Melinda D. Smith; Nadejda A. Soudzilovskaia; Lara Souza; David Tilman; Shannon R. White; Zhuwen Xu; Laura Yahdjian; Qiang Yu; Pengfei Zhang; Yunhai Zhang

doi:10.1111/ele.12861

Asynchrony among local communities stabilises ecosystem function of metacommunities

Kevin R. Wilcox, Andrew T. Tredennick, Sally E. Koerner, Emily Grman, Lauren M. Hallett, Meghan L. Avolio, Kimberly J. La Pierre, Gregory R. Houseman, Forest Isbell, David Samuel Johnson, Juha M. Alatalo, Andrew H. Baldwin, Edward W. Bork, Elizabeth H. Boughton, William D. Bowman, Andrea J. Britton, James F. Cahill, Scott L. Collins, Guozhen Du, Anu EskelinenLaura Gough, Anke Jentsch, Christel Kern, Kari Klanderud, Alan K. Knapp, Juergen Kreyling, Yiqi Luo, Jennie R. McLaren, Patrick Megonigal, Vladimir Onipchenko, Janet Prevéy, Jodi N. Price, Clare H. Robinson, Osvaldo E. Sala, Melinda D. Smith, Nadejda A. Soudzilovskaia, Lara Souza, David Tilman, Shannon R. White, Zhuwen Xu, Laura Yahdjian, Qiang Yu, Pengfei Zhang, Yunhai Zhang

Research output: Contribution to journal › Letter › peer-review

111 Scopus citations

Abstract

Temporal stability of ecosystem functioning increases the predictability and reliability of ecosystem services, and understanding the drivers of stability across spatial scales is important for land management and policy decisions. We used species-level abundance data from 62 plant communities across five continents to assess mechanisms of temporal stability across spatial scales. We assessed how asynchrony (i.e. different units responding dissimilarly through time) of species and local communities stabilised metacommunity ecosystem function. Asynchrony of species increased stability of local communities, and asynchrony among local communities enhanced metacommunity stability by a wide range of magnitudes (1–315%); this range was positively correlated with the size of the metacommunity. Additionally, asynchronous responses among local communities were linked with species’ populations fluctuating asynchronously across space, perhaps stemming from physical and/or competitive differences among local communities. Accordingly, we suggest spatial heterogeneity should be a major focus for maintaining the stability of ecosystem services at larger spatial scales.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1534-1545
Number of pages	12
Journal	Ecology Letters
Volume	20
Issue number	12
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12861
State	Published - Dec 2017

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank the Long Term Ecological Research Network Communications Office for funding the initial working group responsible for compiling the CORRE database, and the various funding agencies and data collection/processing personnel that made individual studies possible, including but not limited to: Jornada Basin Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) (NSF DEB-1235828), ARC LTER RSF (#16-14-10208), Cedar Creek LTER, Konza Prairie LTER, the Macarthur Agro-Ecological Research Center, Niwot LTER, Plum Island Estuary, Sevilleta LTER. Data from the Smithso-nian Global Change Research Wetland as supported by the DOE-TES program (award DE-SC0008339), the NSF-LTREB program (awards DEB-0950080 and DEB-1457100), and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. VO thanks RSF (#16-14-10208) for financial support; CHR thanks the Global Atmospheric Nitrogen Environment (GANE) thematic programme of the UK Natural Environmental Research Council (GST022701); ATT was supported by an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology (DBI-1400370); and KRW was supported by the Experimental Drought in Grasslands Experiment (EF-1137293).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 The Authors. Ecology Letters published by CNRS and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Keywords

Alpha diversity
alpha variability
beta diversity
biodiversity
CoRRE data base
patchiness
plant communities
primary productivity
species synchrony

PubMed: MeSH publication types

Letter

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1111/ele.12861

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Wilcox, K. R., Tredennick, A. T., Koerner, S. E., Grman, E., Hallett, L. M., Avolio, M. L., La Pierre, K. J., Houseman, G. R., Isbell, F., Johnson, D. S., Alatalo, J. M., Baldwin, A. H., Bork, E. W., Boughton, E. H., Bowman, W. D., Britton, A. J., Cahill, J. F., Collins, S. L., Du, G., ... Zhang, Y. (2017). Asynchrony among local communities stabilises ecosystem function of metacommunities. Ecology Letters, 20(12), 1534-1545. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12861

Wilcox, KR, Tredennick, AT, Koerner, SE, Grman, E, Hallett, LM, Avolio, ML, La Pierre, KJ, Houseman, GR, Isbell, F, Johnson, DS, Alatalo, JM, Baldwin, AH, Bork, EW, Boughton, EH, Bowman, WD, Britton, AJ, Cahill, JF, Collins, SL, Du, G, Eskelinen, A, Gough, L, Jentsch, A, Kern, C, Klanderud, K, Knapp, AK, Kreyling, J, Luo, Y, McLaren, JR, Megonigal, P, Onipchenko, V, Prevéy, J, Price, JN, Robinson, CH, Sala, OE, Smith, MD, Soudzilovskaia, NA, Souza, L, Tilman, D, White, SR, Xu, Z, Yahdjian, L, Yu, Q, Zhang, P & Zhang, Y 2017, 'Asynchrony among local communities stabilises ecosystem function of metacommunities', Ecology Letters, vol. 20, no. 12, pp. 1534-1545. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12861

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title = "Asynchrony among local communities stabilises ecosystem function of metacommunities",

abstract = "Temporal stability of ecosystem functioning increases the predictability and reliability of ecosystem services, and understanding the drivers of stability across spatial scales is important for land management and policy decisions. We used species-level abundance data from 62 plant communities across five continents to assess mechanisms of temporal stability across spatial scales. We assessed how asynchrony (i.e. different units responding dissimilarly through time) of species and local communities stabilised metacommunity ecosystem function. Asynchrony of species increased stability of local communities, and asynchrony among local communities enhanced metacommunity stability by a wide range of magnitudes (1–315%); this range was positively correlated with the size of the metacommunity. Additionally, asynchronous responses among local communities were linked with species{\textquoteright} populations fluctuating asynchronously across space, perhaps stemming from physical and/or competitive differences among local communities. Accordingly, we suggest spatial heterogeneity should be a major focus for maintaining the stability of ecosystem services at larger spatial scales.",

keywords = "Alpha diversity, alpha variability, beta diversity, biodiversity, CoRRE data base, patchiness, plant communities, primary productivity, species synchrony",

author = "Wilcox, {Kevin R.} and Tredennick, {Andrew T.} and Koerner, {Sally E.} and Emily Grman and Hallett, {Lauren M.} and Avolio, {Meghan L.} and {La Pierre}, {Kimberly J.} and Houseman, {Gregory R.} and Forest Isbell and Johnson, {David Samuel} and Alatalo, {Juha M.} and Baldwin, {Andrew H.} and Bork, {Edward W.} and Boughton, {Elizabeth H.} and Bowman, {William D.} and Britton, {Andrea J.} and Cahill, {James F.} and Collins, {Scott L.} and Guozhen Du and Anu Eskelinen and Laura Gough and Anke Jentsch and Christel Kern and Kari Klanderud and Knapp, {Alan K.} and Juergen Kreyling and Yiqi Luo and McLaren, {Jennie R.} and Patrick Megonigal and Vladimir Onipchenko and Janet Prev{\'e}y and Price, {Jodi N.} and Robinson, {Clare H.} and Sala, {Osvaldo E.} and Smith, {Melinda D.} and Soudzilovskaia, {Nadejda A.} and Lara Souza and David Tilman and White, {Shannon R.} and Zhuwen Xu and Laura Yahdjian and Qiang Yu and Pengfei Zhang and Yunhai Zhang",

note = "Funding Information: We thank the Long Term Ecological Research Network Communications Office for funding the initial working group responsible for compiling the CORRE database, and the various funding agencies and data collection/processing personnel that made individual studies possible, including but not limited to: Jornada Basin Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) (NSF DEB-1235828), ARC LTER RSF (#16-14-10208), Cedar Creek LTER, Konza Prairie LTER, the Macarthur Agro-Ecological Research Center, Niwot LTER, Plum Island Estuary, Sevilleta LTER. Data from the Smithso-nian Global Change Research Wetland as supported by the DOE-TES program (award DE-SC0008339), the NSF-LTREB program (awards DEB-0950080 and DEB-1457100), and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. VO thanks RSF (#16-14-10208) for financial support; CHR thanks the Global Atmospheric Nitrogen Environment (GANE) thematic programme of the UK Natural Environmental Research Council (GST022701); ATT was supported by an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology (DBI-1400370); and KRW was supported by the Experimental Drought in Grasslands Experiment (EF-1137293). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017 The Authors. Ecology Letters published by CNRS and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.",

year = "2017",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1111/ele.12861",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "20",

pages = "1534--1545",

journal = "Ecology Letters",

issn = "1461-023X",

publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Asynchrony among local communities stabilises ecosystem function of metacommunities

AU - Wilcox, Kevin R.

AU - Tredennick, Andrew T.

AU - Koerner, Sally E.

AU - Grman, Emily

AU - Hallett, Lauren M.

AU - Avolio, Meghan L.

AU - La Pierre, Kimberly J.

AU - Houseman, Gregory R.

AU - Isbell, Forest

AU - Johnson, David Samuel

AU - Alatalo, Juha M.

AU - Baldwin, Andrew H.

AU - Bork, Edward W.

AU - Boughton, Elizabeth H.

AU - Bowman, William D.

AU - Britton, Andrea J.

AU - Cahill, James F.

AU - Collins, Scott L.

AU - Du, Guozhen

AU - Eskelinen, Anu

AU - Gough, Laura

AU - Jentsch, Anke

AU - Kern, Christel

AU - Klanderud, Kari

AU - Knapp, Alan K.

AU - Kreyling, Juergen

AU - Luo, Yiqi

AU - McLaren, Jennie R.

AU - Megonigal, Patrick

AU - Onipchenko, Vladimir

AU - Prevéy, Janet

AU - Price, Jodi N.

AU - Robinson, Clare H.

AU - Sala, Osvaldo E.

AU - Smith, Melinda D.

AU - Soudzilovskaia, Nadejda A.

AU - Souza, Lara

AU - Tilman, David

AU - White, Shannon R.

AU - Xu, Zhuwen

AU - Yahdjian, Laura

AU - Yu, Qiang

AU - Zhang, Pengfei

AU - Zhang, Yunhai

N1 - Funding Information: We thank the Long Term Ecological Research Network Communications Office for funding the initial working group responsible for compiling the CORRE database, and the various funding agencies and data collection/processing personnel that made individual studies possible, including but not limited to: Jornada Basin Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) (NSF DEB-1235828), ARC LTER RSF (#16-14-10208), Cedar Creek LTER, Konza Prairie LTER, the Macarthur Agro-Ecological Research Center, Niwot LTER, Plum Island Estuary, Sevilleta LTER. Data from the Smithso-nian Global Change Research Wetland as supported by the DOE-TES program (award DE-SC0008339), the NSF-LTREB program (awards DEB-0950080 and DEB-1457100), and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. VO thanks RSF (#16-14-10208) for financial support; CHR thanks the Global Atmospheric Nitrogen Environment (GANE) thematic programme of the UK Natural Environmental Research Council (GST022701); ATT was supported by an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology (DBI-1400370); and KRW was supported by the Experimental Drought in Grasslands Experiment (EF-1137293). Publisher Copyright: © 2017 The Authors. Ecology Letters published by CNRS and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PY - 2017/12

Y1 - 2017/12

N2 - Temporal stability of ecosystem functioning increases the predictability and reliability of ecosystem services, and understanding the drivers of stability across spatial scales is important for land management and policy decisions. We used species-level abundance data from 62 plant communities across five continents to assess mechanisms of temporal stability across spatial scales. We assessed how asynchrony (i.e. different units responding dissimilarly through time) of species and local communities stabilised metacommunity ecosystem function. Asynchrony of species increased stability of local communities, and asynchrony among local communities enhanced metacommunity stability by a wide range of magnitudes (1–315%); this range was positively correlated with the size of the metacommunity. Additionally, asynchronous responses among local communities were linked with species’ populations fluctuating asynchronously across space, perhaps stemming from physical and/or competitive differences among local communities. Accordingly, we suggest spatial heterogeneity should be a major focus for maintaining the stability of ecosystem services at larger spatial scales.

AB - Temporal stability of ecosystem functioning increases the predictability and reliability of ecosystem services, and understanding the drivers of stability across spatial scales is important for land management and policy decisions. We used species-level abundance data from 62 plant communities across five continents to assess mechanisms of temporal stability across spatial scales. We assessed how asynchrony (i.e. different units responding dissimilarly through time) of species and local communities stabilised metacommunity ecosystem function. Asynchrony of species increased stability of local communities, and asynchrony among local communities enhanced metacommunity stability by a wide range of magnitudes (1–315%); this range was positively correlated with the size of the metacommunity. Additionally, asynchronous responses among local communities were linked with species’ populations fluctuating asynchronously across space, perhaps stemming from physical and/or competitive differences among local communities. Accordingly, we suggest spatial heterogeneity should be a major focus for maintaining the stability of ecosystem services at larger spatial scales.

KW - Alpha diversity

KW - alpha variability

KW - beta diversity

KW - biodiversity

KW - CoRRE data base

KW - patchiness

KW - plant communities

KW - primary productivity

KW - species synchrony

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U2 - 10.1111/ele.12861

DO - 10.1111/ele.12861

M3 - Letter

C2 - 29067791

AN - SCOPUS:85033241023

SN - 1461-023X

VL - 20

SP - 1534

EP - 1545

JO - Ecology Letters

JF - Ecology Letters

IS - 12

ER -

Asynchrony among local communities stabilises ecosystem function of metacommunities

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

PubMed: MeSH publication types

UN SDGs

Publisher link

Find It

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